SF Games Weekly Meetup

Details

FRIDAY SF GAMES:20 and 40 people playing all kinds of board and card games. If you like a large selection of games to play with a variety of people, this is the group for you. Five hours of games!

We meet Friday nights, 7:00pm (sharp!) to 12:00 midnight (yes, 5 hours!). You don't have to stay all night though :)

DESCRIPTION: While we are serious about games, SF Games is a friendly social club with games, not a group just for intense gamers.

SF Games is a collective name for a group of people who get together and play board games and card games every week. We're not sponsored by any cafe or games company. Some of us have been playing games for years, others only a few months. What we share is our love of games, all kinds. SF Games is free to attend, but please buy something at the cafe. Bring your favorite games to play if you have them. Be prepared to learn a new game. Come early or you might not get into the early games! Don't know how to play? We'll teach you.

IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 7:00: You're absolutely still welcome! Many of us stay all night, but many of us also come and go. If you come after 7:00, simply hang out until you see a game end. In most games you're welcome to sit at the edge of the table and watch until the game ends. Be sure to introduce yourself. Since our main group runs 5 hours, you will be able to get into a game if you wait until the next break. Most people can get in 3 games during the evening.

FAQ

1 - WHO ATTENDS? All kinds of people ages 17 to about 70, male, female, straight, gay, bi have come to SF Games over the years. Everybody who can play games is welcome to attend. The number of people varies from about 20 to 45 out of a universe of about 200.

2 - WHAT KIND OF GAMES? What we play depends on who comes and what they bring. Generally, games can be divided into two groups: strategy games and social games.

STRATEGY GAMES: Among the most common popular board games we play are Ticket To Ride, Puerto Rico, Power Grid, Settlers of Catan, Acquire, Caylus, Can't Stop, Carcassonne, Rumis, Tigris & Euphrates, Alhambra, Age of Steam, Ra, Goa, Cheops, Age of Empires III, Taj Mahal, Notre Dame, Modern Art, On the Underground, Louis XIV, Web of Power, Lost Cities, China, Thurn and Taxis, Vinci, Amun-Re, and even good old Scrabble. We also have been known to play Samurai, Air Baron, Illuminati, and other less common European-style board games too numerous to describe.

SOCIAL GAMES: These are for people who like lots of conversation and laughs, where having a good time is not as important as refining your game-winning strategy. Examples of social games we play are: Apples to Apples, Taboo, Can't Stop, Set, Fluxx, Boggle and Hoopla. Feel free to bring other social games.

SPECIAL DECK CARD GAMES: We also play games that use special packs such as For Sale, Zendo, RoboRally, San Juan, Bohnanza, Coloretto, Modern Art, Condottiere and Bang.

TRADITIONAL DECK CARD GAMES: They tend to be focused on these ones using traditional decks. Click on the game names to bring up rules for the games: Spades, Eucre, Sheepshead, Hearts, 500 Rum, 500, and once in awhile Cribbage. Recently (March 2007) we began playing 500, a trick-taking card game based partly on Eucre. We do not play Magic the Gathering or other collectible card type games. We also do not play long-form (more than 3 hour) games, though people from our group do meet independently for this. We're a social group first.

4 - DO YOU PLAY MY FAVORITE GAME? Don't ask us if we play a game -- come by and bring your game and see!

3 - DOES SF GAMES MEET EVERY WEEK? This is probably the most frequent question. SF Games meets every Friday of the year unless Christmas Eve or Day falls on a game night. Then we don't meet. Otherwise we meet, rain or shine.

HISTORY OF SF GAMES: SF Games was founded July 5, 1995 by David Kaye. SF Games was begun not as a games group but as a social group with games. This important difference we feel has contributed to the longevity of the group and the continued enjoyment by members year in and year out. Welcome to our visitors from other countries! Many of our games are of German origin, and many can be played without extensive knowledge of English. People from all over the world have joined us during their vacations in San Francisco. We have also been featured in stories appearing in the press in Italy and Germany.